La mer, trois esquisses symphoniques pour orchestre (French for The sea, three symphonic sketches for orchestra), or simply La Mer (i.e. The Sea), is an orchestral composition (L 109) by the French impressionist composer Claude Debussy. It was started in 1903 in France and completed in 1905 on the English Channel coast in Eastbourne. The premiere was given by the Lamoureux Orchestra under the direction of Camille Chevillard on 15 October 1905 in Paris. The piece was initially not well received - partly because of inadequate rehearsal and partly because of Parisian outrage over Debussy's having recently left his first wife for the singer Emma Bardac[citation needed]. But it soon became one of Debussy's most admired and frequently performed orchestral works, and has become more so in the ensuing century.- wikipedia